Born to Die
by nyehpeasents
Summary: Maybe death won't be so bad; at least it won't be if I know you'll stick around for awhile. [Humanstuck EriSol]
1. Chapter 1

_In Which Sollux Meets an Asshole_

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Sat on the corner of a desolated street sat a small café. Not many people were ever there except for the occasional man or woman that needed a small pick-me-up on their way home after an especially long day of work.

This was the case for one Sollux Captor who stepped in the musty café. Looking around, a man could be sat in a corner sitting at a circular table, a coffee in one hand and small novel in the other. Captor rolled his eyes at the man; typical scene. There was always someone reading something in the corner while drinking a beverage quietly, minding their own business. Though, why this particular man was sitting there reading at this time of night struck him as odd, but he didn't put much thought in it.

Moving toward the counter he heard a crack and looked back at the window that covered the entrance of the café and noticed the lightning strike and fat drops of rain starting to fall to the pavement. Sighing exasperatedly, Sollux continued on, walking up to the deserted counter and waiting for someone to come to take his order. As he waited, he took another look around, this time at a different part of the café.

More tables were set up toward the back, they had been wiped down already and the chairs were stacked neatly on top. Eyebrows coming together, Sollux leaned over the counter, trying to look back into the kitchen for someone- anyone- to just take his order and let him leave before the storm raging outdoors got too bad.

After a while he ended up getting extremely impatient. "Hey, is anyone back there?" He called out, voice tainted by a lisp that had grown a part of Captor's life once he got over the initial elementary and middle school embarrassment of the slight flaw in his voice. "I'd really like to get some fucking coffee if that isn't a huge problem. I mean, I'd really fucking hate it if you were busy or some shit, but I do have places to be."

Footsteps could be heard as a groggy looking man walked out of the kitchen, looking haggled as he ran a hand through his black hair that had a vibrant looking shock of purple streak starting at his forehead and moving toward the back of his head. Were those sorts of hairstyles even allowed in places of employment? Not that Sollux particularly cared.

"Goddamn, hold on will you? I've never heard of someone so fuckin' impatient." The man growled as he wiped his eyes underneath his hipster glasses and placed an apron over his front before stepping up to the counter. "What the hell do you want?"

Sollux had to admit he was slightly taken aback by this man. No worker had ever addressed him in such a fashion and to be perfectly honest, it pissed him off quite a bit. "I want a fucking coffee. Two sugars and two creams," he muttered, staring daggers at the man as he typed his order into the computer, pressing a button.

"Is that all for you?" He asked and Sollux could clearly see his fist clench and unclench a couple times, surprising him slightly and causing him to lose the pissed off state he was in.

"Y-yeah."

The man hit another button, a smirk appearing on his face that just pissed Sollux off all over again. Who the fuck did this guy think he was? He was working late on a Friday night at a goddamn café for god's sake. He didn't have any right to be showing such attitude to someone that had a well-paying job.

"$3.95." He muttered, still wearing the smirk.

Digging into his pocket, his lip curled as he pulled out a five and practically threw it at the man's face. "Keep the change and trash the receipt. Just get me my damned coffee."

Sollux would've just walked out right when the man had started shooting back his own attitude, but the ride home was a long one and the young man definitely needed a pick-me-up as it would be rather unfortunate if he were to fall asleep at the wheel of his car and crash. The man walked away to make his coffee after he sneered, throwing the receipt into the trash as he did. Captor knew there was no way this guy's boss was around. He would've been fired on the spot for being such an insufferable prick.

Despite the shitty attitude the guy was giving, Sollux regretfully admitted in his mind that he was rather attractive. A tall, slim muscular figure he was with a straight nose and beautiful grey blue eyes. If only he didn't have that ugly attitude to take away from his good looks.

The man soon came back, setting the cup on the counter in front of Sollux. "Have a great night." He hissed before walking back into the kitchen as another crack of thunder sounded. Rain could also be heard pounding on the roof of the building. He groaned, head tilting back.

Grabbing his coffee, the young man pulled his keys out of his blue hoodie and walked out of the café, not giving the place another look as he pulled his hood up. Freezing rain hit him, seeming like it was coming down in bucket loads and soaking him immediately.

"Goddamn that fucking guy," he growled to himself, trying to shield his coffee as he went to his car, unlocking the door and climbing in, sighing as he shut the rain out. Putting the key into the ignition and twisting it, the car started with loud sound, startling him slightly as this had never happened before. "What the fuck?" He muttered as he squinted out of the front, trying to see through his glasses that were tinted red in one lense and blue in the other. Luckily, his engine wasn't smoking, which meant the man had at least a little luck on his side.

Putting the car into drive, Sollux went on his way, taking a sip of his coffee as he did so then making a rather disgusted face. Of course, the man neglected to put in any cream. To be quite frank, it didn't surprise him at all. He had been a dick and interrupted whatever the man had been doing, so of course there was bound to be some consequence for his actions. Of course, Sollux had also given the ungrateful asshole a two dollar tip. If that didn't scream kindness he didn't know what the hell did.

Deciding not to think about it, he set the coffee back in the cup holder and instead focused on the road, trying not to think about the heaps of shit he had to do once he arrived back at his apartment. Working all day as a computer systems analysis, at night he had heaps of bills to pay and codes to design on his laptop. His was strenuous living the life he did, but live he did. Needless to say, Sollux was quite content with the life he was living. Doing what one loved certainly was a great feeling and the man couldn't have been happier. The only thing he hated was the long drives back and forth from his place of employment back to his empty apartment. Naturally such a busy man didn't have time for a relationship. He didn't see the need for one. Save love for when he could no longer work, that was his goal. Relationships also meant distractions and living for another. He couldn't do that.

While in college, Sollux had tried to date a beautiful woman by the name of Aradia. They were happily together for three months before the man decided he didn't want the distractions of her to keep him from his work. After that he was short, not only a girlfriend, but of a great friend. Sure, he had other friends, but none that were quite like Aradia. On the long car rides home, he often thought about what ever had come of her. Sollux knew she wanted to go into something regarding forensics, but he didn't quite know what it was.

Sighing, he took another sip of his coffee, grimacing once again as he swallowed the hot drink, setting it back down. He made a mental note to stop by the café once again on his way back from work just to give the guy a piece of his mind. However attractive, Sollux didn't care, no one fucked up his coffee. No one.


	2. Chapter 2

_In Which Eridan Becomes Single_

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The kitchen of Free Spirit Café was small and not really comfortable for work. The walls and equipment were white, causing worker Eridan Ampora to automatically think of hospitals. He wouldn't have even been working in the shitty little café, but his parents had kicked him out meaning he needed some sort of job to pay for the rather small apartment he was living at with his girlfriend of two years, Vriska Serket. He hated living with her; she was controlling, bitchy, and had a terrible sense of style. If he were able, he would've broken up with her long ago, but she was the boss' daughter, meaning he only had the job he did because of her. However shitty it was, it was still a paying job. What choice did he have but to stay with the witch from Hell?

After dealing with the shitty customer that had cheesy 3D glasses and a disgusting attitude, Eridan went back to the kitchen, slamming his apron on the counter and crossing his arms over his chest, tapping his foot against the tiled floors, huffing. He hated people, absolutely loathed them. Ampora was lucky he was even able to deal with them for the entirety of his ten hour shift. But Captor had been the worst that evening. What was the guy's problem anyway? Who did he think he was? If he'd had a bad day, that was absolutely no excuse to treat an innocent worker like garbage.

Sure, he had been in the back doing activities that shouldn't have been done by a grown man working in a café, but it wasn't like he could stop it. Things happened and he got distracted, that didn't mean the man needed to be so rude when Eridan did finally show his face. In fact, the young man should have considered himself lucky the worker even found it within himself to come out of the back. Of course, he could've stayed. But he didn't, because he cared about his customers. They least they could do was show some respect in return.

Huffing, he moved over to the sink, starting up dishes that he had to wash manually because the joint couldn't include a simple dishwasher in their establishment. Squirting soap in the running water, he moved back to his apron, putting it back on so not to get his clothing wet. Afterwards, he took up dirty plates and silverware that ran throughout his shift and pushed them into the water, grumbling about how much he hated his job as he did so.

Thinking back, Eridan began remincing about how great his old life used to be before he had to find a job. He got whatever the hell he wanted, money practically flew into his pocket, and he was actually happy. Now, he just hated everyone. Even the girl he used to like before he started dating Vris-bitch. She rejected him saying she 'didn't swing his way', whatever the fuck that meant. He hadn't really heard her from then on, as he cut all connections with her.

Pushing his old childish crush out of his brain, he started washing up the dishes so he could be done with his shift. The man desperately hoped that Vriska wasn't there to nag him. All he wanted to do was go home and plop right into bed, getting as much rest as possible before he had to get up and start up the same day. It was routine; he felt like a zombie. And he fucking hated feeling that way.

Finally finishing the dirtied dishes, he dried and put them away before moving on to cleaning the counters off in the area. Most of which were already clean, but he just thought why the hell not? Ampora rushed through his work, not being careful with anything and knowing he was probably missing many spots in his cleaning. Honestly, it had surprised him that he hadn't been fired despite being with Vriska. Eridan knew he pissed his boss off like no other.

Moving out into the dining area, Eridan lifted the counter and noticed that the café was now deserted. He had half a mind to leave the area like it was and just blame the sad guy that had first shift the next morning, but then he realized it wasn't exactly fair. Even though it was clear life really wasn't fair, he decided to clean the tables anyway. The ones in the back luckily went untouched, it was the others near the front that needed cleaned. Sighing again, obnoxiously loud, he set to work, starting to wipe the circular tables off and stack the chairs on top. It was then he realized that he still had to sweep the floor. This caused the man to give a shout and kick at the wall, then hissing in pain at his wounded toe.

Bowing his head, he decided to go ahead and finish the jobs he was assigned, even though he wanted nothing more than to just clock out and leave. Rubbing the crumbs and coffee puddles off various tables, he quickly stacked the chairs on top of the remaining ones and then practically ran to the back, grabbing the broom and starting to wipe up the dust, mud, and crumbs from the various visitors throughout the day. Of course he got stuck with all this shit to do at the end of the day. It was as if Vriska told her father to torture the man as much as possible while at work so he would feel her through him. It was disgusting, manipulative, and something Vriska would do.

Eventually, Eridan finished cleaning. Returning to the back, he took his apron off and threw it in the hamper, going to the locker in the back of the room and taking off his work shoes, replacing them with his blue and purple Chucks. Once this was done, he placed his various golden rings back on his fingers and then moved to the small bathroom that had two working lights, one of which flickered badly. The mirror was grimy and disgusting looking, but one could certainly see themselves, so Ampora really didn't have much to complain about when it came to that. He ran a couple hands through his gelled hair, causing it to stay back. He tried to fix the violet curl in the middle of his forehead, but it was adamant on staying where it was, much to Eridan chagrin.

Shutting off all the lights in the café, the man clocked out fifteen minutes before he was actually supposed to get off, and left the horrendous place of his employment. Climbing into his car, Eridan put the key in the ignition, starting it up and pulling out of the parking lot, driving toward his and Vriska's apartment. He was still hoping that she wasn't there, but that was unlikely. Usually she was waiting to nag him about shit to clean and how much of a shitty failure he was. These words mostly just went in one ear and out the other, but on this particular night, after dealing with that one customer with the shitty attitude, Eridan wasn't in the mood to deal with his girlfriend's shit.

The apartment complex Eridan was located at was quite small. There were two buildings with four sub buildings in each one. All the rooms were rather small, just containing a kitchen, bedroom, a small closet, and bath. This was nothing like the young man had when he lived with his parents. His old bedroom was two times the size of the apartment he lived in with Vriska.

Pulling into the lot, he noticed an unfamiliar car in his spot. Cursing, he pulled in beside it, shutting off his own car and getting out, locking the doors tight and pulling the handle just to make sure. There were plenty of robberies and luckily, Eridan's car hadn't been one of victims, but he was sure that time would soon come, especially because of the druggies that lived next door to him. He had met the guy before but decided to stay away when his blood shot eyes met his and all he spoke of was miracles while smoking a joint.

Looking at the car for some type of identifier he noticed that whomever owned it obviously wasn't rich by any means. It was a complete rust bucket. The mirror on the passenger side was missing and from inside it looked as if some sort of metal was peeking through the seat. Eridan finally shrugged and chalked it up to be one of his next door neighbor's drug buddies. Finally pocketing his keys, the young man walked into the building and up a flight of stairs to his room. Next door, faint music could be heard over some laughter.

He sighed in relief, usually the music and laughter were louder; perhaps the druggies had somehow sensed that Eridan wasn't in the mood to deal with their loud shit. Must've been the 'motherfucking mirthful messiahs' telling them that. It was another constant he had to deal with. Potheads on top of Vriska's constant shit just made his life a living hell.

Unlocking the door to his apartment, he opened the door, not bothering to call out he was home. Instead, he just focused on getting to bed. Taking a step in, he slid slightly on something. Looking down, he saw an article of clothing laying on the hardwood floor. This confused Eridan and he bent down to pick it up, realizing it was Vriska's jacket. Clenching it in his fist, he looked forward, seeing another article on the back of the couch. Walking to it, he saw Vriska's horrid blue shirt. Becoming even more confused, the man continued walking through the living room and then the kitchen, not finding anymore clothing until he reached the hallway and picked up a pair of men's jeans. It was then he heard the noises coming from the bedroom. His heart sank as he walked slowly to the door, opening it and revealing Vriska sitting ontop of some guy with a brown Mohawk, his hands on her breasts as she moaned and bounced up and down, causing the bed to squeak.

Eridan's mouth fell open as he tried to find the voice. He had never actually expected Vriska to cheat. He was Eridan Ampora, women didn't cheat on him. He was pretty fucking close to perfection. And who the fuck was the guy she was riding? "What the fuck, Vris?" He exclaimed, finally finding his voice and causing the young woman to jump, spinning around. The man had a similar reaction as his face turned bright red.

"Fuck, you weren't supposed to be home for another hour, Eridick." She growled, not bothering to cover her nude body, which looked slick with sweat. Eridan briefly wondered how long the two had been at it.

"Actually another five minutes, you ragin' slut." Eridan growled, then threw the clothing at Vriska and the new guy she was with. "I hope you're havin' fun fuckin' him 'cause I'm done with you."

And with that, Eridan turned and sped away. Vriska didn't bother stopping him; why would she? Obviously she wasn't happy enough controlling him so she had to find someone else. Or maybe it was because Ampora was stronger than she initially thought and had to find someone weaker and that guy looked pretty fucking weak. Despite telling himself all this, Eridan could still feel a slight pain in his heart. It wasn't as if he loved Vriska; he hated her, but she had still been his girlfriend and cheated.

As he walked to his car, the man ripped his keys from his pocket, making sure he ran them along the other man's car. He had to have known Vriska was with someone. It were completely obvious. Shaking his head, he then turned to his own car, unlocking it and then driving off into the night. He didn't know where he was going to go; all he knew was that he had to get the hell away.


End file.
